


house guests

by Raenel



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cuba and Canada are bros, F/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 06:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raenel/pseuds/Raenel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cuba comes home from the market and finds Belarus waiting for him. With Canada's help, they try to comfort her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	house guests

“Belarus? What brings you all the way down here?" Cuba smiled when he saw her, awkwardly embracing her with one arm; under his other he had a large package wrapped in butcher's paper. After a moment he looked down at her and sighed. "Oh whats wrong? Is Ivan being more distant than usual?" Leaving his arm around her he led her toward the gate to his home.

"I just don't know what to do. He used to look for me, hunt me, but now he seems just to ignore me or hide and run."

_Shit never heard her like this before. She has never this honest, he must be being worse than normal._ "Just relax a bit. I do have company, but hes a nice guy. Has problems being ignored too. Seems like all the superpowers can't seem to see what they do to the people close to them." _Fucking America always picking on the poor guy_ Cuba thought, _and damn it Ivan too, she's a sweet girl maybe there is something I can try to do for her._

"I-I'm sorry I didn't realize you had a guest. I can come back some other time-"

"Nonsense! Matthew would not allow it" _well he might leave himself_ "I've got plenty of room and besides he brought maple candies and that damn bear of his"

"A bear?" Belarus' eyes widened, the vacant look fading fast

"Yeah and not one of them pussy little asian ones, this is a real one from up north. Big as a car but friendly like a puppy." _Damn I hope I can get to the kitchen with this. Swordfish isn't cheap and if Kumo catches me I'll end up giving most of it to him_

"I've never seen a friendly bear before" Belarus moved in front of Cuba and started to open the gate for him.

"Of course you have; Matt attended all those meeting back in WWII. you went to a couple of 'em didn't you?"

"Wait, was he the stenographer?"

"No, no no. he's Canada, kinda just blends in with everything else unless you're paying attention. Very soft spoken guy, it's part of the reason he gets pushed around so much." As he helped Belarus latch the gate behind them he turned and saw his door ajar. "Damn it Matt" with a sigh Cuba shook his head and walked down the short path

"What's wrong?" she was walking quicker to keep up with the bigger man

"Its nothing really. It's just. I just can't believe that he didn't lock my door again. I keep telling him its not a trust thing, its just a I-haven't-gotten-around-to-fixing-my-cheap-door-that-falls open thing." Smiling a little Cuba looked over at Belarus who had started giggling _aaah crap I must sound like I'm married to him._

“S-sorry" she stammered still laughing a bit

"Anyway, Canada err Matt is out back. he loves how people can swim year round here and not freeze to death. I just need to drop this off in the kitchen and wash up." As he spoke he raised the package under his arm a bit.

"Alright. But you're sure this is okay? I'm really not intruding?" She had that distant edge in her voice again

_Shit something Ivan did really has her messed up. Usually she's a roller coaster but you can see the drop coming a mile out._ "Yes, for the last time, go keep Matt company. he will be glad to meet ya; after you kicked Sweden's ass last year that was all he talked about for like three months." shooing her away he kicked his sandals off and headed for the kitchen. As he rounded the corner he walked face first into a wall of white fur _shit no way I'm gonna get passed him today. oh well I suppose he knows I got through yesterday._

"Kumo Kkuuuumoooooo" he could hear Matt calling him from the back yard. the big bear looked away and then back at Cuba expectantly.

"Alright guess what I got for you" Cuba smiled in spite of himself; as much as he wanted to hate that bear it always made him smile. "You're gonna have to do a trick for it today!" The bear dropped onto his hind end sitting almost like a dog. "How about..." he smiled as the bear visibly tensed, "ROLL OVER" dropping onto his side the massive bear tried to roll in the narrow hall, knocking a couple small photos off the wall and breaking the little table Cuba used to put his mail on. _shit maybe that was a bad one for right here._ "How about you.. say.... THANK YOU!" covering his ears as he finished Cuba laughed. the bear roared his fangs ivory and jagged. he heard someone scream behind him. S _hit that's the third house keeper that I've scared off because of him._ "Alright I guess you've earned it" Cuba unwrapped the majority of the fish. He had a small piece big enough for four maybe five steaks still. tossing the bigger piece to the bear he smiled as as Kumo slid a bit on the wood floors dashing for the patio.

"That's his bear" Belarus said her mouth still open a bit

"Oh yeah um I'm sorry. He gets a little carried away when you give him treats. Didn't mean to startle you."

“Scared me half to death. I've never seen anything like that.” she fidgeted with her skirt for a moment, her gaze dropping down to her toes. "I umm.. I just.. I wanted to thank you for always listening to me when I get down and because you always seem to be able to help and because you seem to understand and you listen and I'm rambling and-"

_Shit what the hell did Ivan do_? "Don't worry 'bout it. We were practically family back when the Soviet Union was still all together. its just what family does."

Belarus smiled threw her arms around him and then dashed out toward the patio behind the bear.

"What the hell did that bastard do.." Cuba said to himself as he walked into the kitchen and stashed the little bit of fish he had left, "What the hell did he do." as he washed his hands he smiled a bit. Belarus was outside with Matt watching Kumo eat his treat. She was smiling again, and Matt was too. _Shit let me see. I wonder what she drinks. WAIT! America would know.. never mind._ _umm shit who else._ Cuba searched his mind to try and figure out what to bring her. _Well everyone likes a screwdriver, or at least chicks do. and Matt that should be fine._ Whipping up the drinks he headed outside careful not to slip on his floor; the bear had been swimming and come back inside earlier. _I'll need to remind him not to let Kumo in before hes dried off a bit. this is one hell of a mess._

"Oh him? he used to be a little little thing, but I guess he grew up in a hurry. Al keeps telling me I can't have a bear as a pet, but he learns tricks and fetches and keeps your feet warm at night so really hes just like a big dog, so I just keep him." Matt smiled as he watched Belarus scratching behind Kumo's ears.

"I see she found you easy enough, I've brought some drinks" seeing Matt's disapproving look Cuba quickly amended, "Good ones; the fruity kind, not my sad attempt at making beer." he shuddered _beer was never good, but that had been almost comical never gonna do that again_

"Well" Matt began as he took the glass out of Cuba's hand, "The thought was nice, just never had a beer that tasted quite like that before."

_she's smiling? only seen that a couple times before and never after she was so empty. something is very very wrong_

"You tell the story Matt, I'm gonna go get us some food. there's a fantastic Greek place that delivers out here and I think I want to put off grilling until tonight. "

"Alright, but nothing too spicy. you know I don't like spicy things. okay?"

"Garlic is okay though right? they use a lot of that in their seasonings." _I need to call Latvia, he should know whats going on._

"Yeah that should be fine." Matt was beaming; he hated is when people were afraid of Kumo but Belarus seemed to think he was wonderful.

"Alright I'll call. Belarus, did you eat lunch yet?" he was beginning to turn toward the patio door.

"No thanks. I'm good I think." she kept smiling and petting the bear.

_Shit maybe she killed him. she's just lost it_

" 'kay gonna call them quick, oh Matt you should tell her about the time Quebec hosted the Olympics" with a big grin on his face Cuba ducked into the house.

"oh but that's sooo embarrassing"

Cuba smiled he turned and shouted back, "Well I'll tell the story about the 'Cuban Missile Crisis' as America likes to call it then and we'll be even!"

"Alright well there's a bit of back story here.." Cuba could hear Matt blushing as Belarus laughed.

Sliding the door shut behind him Cuba pulled out his phone. _Shit I wonder if hes up? I'm terrible at this whole time zone thing_

The phone rang two, three, four times. Then the answering machine picked up ,"Hey this is Latvia if you leave your name I can get back to you. If its Russia I'll be home as soon as I can be. Just don't be too rough on me I'm short enough as is. and I'm growing so you don't need to worry about helping me out. I want my clothes to fit for a bit longer yet and-" the tone cut him off.

"Hey this is Cuba. I can't remember if its really late or really early there. But anyway if you could-" his phone was beeping, it was Latvia "never mind here you are." hanging up on the answering machine he picked up on Latvia's call "Hey man I got one hell of a question for ya."

“Really what time is it? Never mind doesn't matter; sun is setting which means fun shit is gonna be going down." Latvia's voice was less than enthusiastic.

"Can you sound anymore sarcastic? Anyway I need to know what happened with Natalia and Ivan this morning."

"Oh that? Well she walked in on him and china." Latvia sounded a bit disinterested.

"Wait what?" Cuba was staring dumbfounded at the counter.

"You heard me; she walked in on him and China. then he had the balls to tell her she should leave." Latvia sounded a little annoyed but worried all at once.

"But those two broke up."

"Yeah, but they stayed in contact. and with all the industrializing going on they had to talk tariffs and trade agreements and one thing just led to another."

“Shit. guess she took it pretty hard huh?"

"That's a light way of putting it. She wrecked EVERYTHING. Threw a couch at him and buried that damn knife she always has in his portrait of Lenin. Think she ended up back at the little cottage they used to holiday at."

"Well damn."

"Heh whats up?"

“Shes down here with me now."

"Oh man wait till Lithuania hears this"

"NO! No, not like that; shes cute but just kinda scary; I mean you could get stabbed or worse. "

"I hear ya. Russia's mostly to blame for that whole mess."

"How do ya figure? Shes always been kinda a creeper about him. I mean use some discretion but still."

"Well not quite always. when they first showed up she wasn't sure who she was blah blah blah. she didn't want anything too serious, but Ivan gets what he wants and you know as well as I do just how fucked up he is. and how strong. that whole deal happened when he was fighting Poland. Just sorta took while he was at it."

“I didn't know that ." Cuba struck the counter as, startling Matt who had just come inside.

"You alright Cuba? is the Greek place closed or something." Matt started mixing up fresh drinks for him and Belarus

"Yeah they have some stupid holiday or something" he lied and he could tell Matt knew too, "Wow you two finished those fast"

"well its really hot out and I didn't really drink anything while you were out, and she just threw hers back so I did too"

"Cuba? Cuba you there man?" Latvia chimed over the phone after a brief pause "Well I gotta go hang with Poland and Ukraine. trying to get a decent export price on wheat this year. I'll call you later bye!" Latvia hung up and thankfully it didn't look like Matt had heard him

_What the hell am I going to do? poor thing. wow never thought I'd think that about her_

"Well I can always cook something. You have a lot of the basics and I'm pretty handy around the kitchen, or at least Al says I am." Matt smiled as he finished slicing a bit of pineapple into the drinks he was making. "Oh do you have any of that fuzzy fruit with the green inside and the little black seeds?"

_Damn he makes those fast_ Cuba thought as he looked at the drinks Matt had whipped up. "Kiwi? yeah there should be a couple of em on top of the microwave next to the bananas."

“Sweet, gonna need to pay attention. Daniel-Pa- I mean Quebec, he hates it when I call him that in front of people, showed me." smiling be started to peel the fruit. " First what you do is ta-" he was cut off as Belarus cried out.

_shit shit SHIT! I've told him so many times he needs to teach that bear manners its too rough._ the two slipped a bit on the floor as the frantically opened the door and ran outside.

As the boys cleared the door Cuba let out a relieved sigh then started laughing; Belarus was standing on the edge of the pool. her lacy black and white dress dripping and Kumo standing in the shallow end looking pleased with himself.

"It's not funny" Belarus growled as she tried to wring out her skirt.

Covering his mouth Cuba kept smiling.

"Matthew your damn bear pulled me into the pool."

"Yeah he does that. The sissy hates to swim alone. That's part of the reason I like to bring him when I visit. that and because if I didn't Cuba would miss him." Matt smiled and relaxed a bit.

"This dress is ruined." Belarus slumped to the ground, her hair falling over her face.

"Oh no I um I'm sorry here" Matt pulled out his cell phone" I'll call Quebec. He always knows what to do with clothes. What kind of fabric is it? He can help."

"It's cotton; but it's old. and the lace.." she trailed off as she brushed at it idly with her hand.

"Daniel-Paul? hey its Matt-- what no I'm not dieing. I have a question for you. no I just-- stop stop STOP IT! you know my french isn't always that good when its an emergency. Please, its about a dress. NO not MY dress. I need to know how to clean a vintage cotton dress. you see I'm down here with Cuba and Belarus-- NO" Matt started blushing "it's nothing like THAT. Quit laughing, she just fell in the pool and she is worried about the lace." Matt shook his head as he listened. "No I-- just YOU talk to him" pushing the phone into Belarus' hands he turned still red faced and very very embarrassed.

"Umm hello?" Belarus asked her voice softer than usual.

"Is this Belarus?" Quebec had a thick almost forced sounding accent

“Yes.”

"why the hell would you be wearing a hundred-year-old, hand made black and white lace dress in Cuba this time of year?"

"yes, how did you know what colors it was?"

"That's the one you've always been wearing when I've seen you, but it doesn't really matter; why were you wearing such nice dress down in Cuba this time of year."

"I didn't plan on coming down here its just what I had on from this morning."

"well then why the hell did you go swimming in it? that thing is amazing. with a couple--

"I didn't GO swimming; that damn bear pulled me in."

"oh Kumo? yeah he does that. anyway, you need to just wash it soon, before the smell gets a chance to set into it. you do hand-wash all your dresses like that don't you?"

"yes.

"then you should be fine. just be a bit more careful with the lace. that shit is priceless. oh and one more thing."

"yes?" Belarus' voice had an edge to it

S _hit hes gonna make it worse_ Cuba thought as he heard her tone shifting fast toward anger.

"is Matthew making that face? the one where hes all embarrassed and upset?"

looking up at Matt she couldn't help but smile. "yes he is"

“Sounds like you might be smiling now huh"

"yes" she giggled a bit looking up at Matt, "hes priceless"

"well it sounds like things are going to be just fine. anyway have fun with Cuba and if you're ever looking to try something a bit more modern hit me up; shopping for you could be a lot of fun; see ya!"

"What did he say about me" Matt was still making the same cute face, " sometimes I just hate him hes just sooo..."

laughing Belarus handed back his phone. "he was just telling me that I needed to wash my dress in a hurry." she turned to Cuba who was smiling too. " Do you think that I could borrow a shirt and some shorts or something? I kinda left in a hurry this morning and didn't really pack any..." she trailed off and looked back at her feet.

"well my shirts are probably just a touch too big for ya. I'll go see if I have anything though. wait, actually Matt, you brought that giant suitcase down. think she could maybe grab a shit and shorts from you? I'm about 10 sizes to big but you might be just 5 or so. and you have all those belts so the shorts might actually stay on"

"those are to match the shoes Quebec made me bring. he always makes me pack way too much. 'gotta dress for the weather'" he made a very poor attempt at Quebec's accent “but its always nice here even when it rains. But yeah I can grab you something Belarus I'll just go inside quick."

smiling at him Belarus stood, water still dripping from her hair, "you can just call me Natalia or Nataly or whatever, thank you Matthew"

Blinking a couple times with a big grin on his face Matt dashed inside and wiped out on the wood floor. "ow ow owowoww" he stammered out as he walked on the wood floor rather than ran.

She was still staring at the door and laughing to herself when Cuba turned to her. "I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I ah" s _hit I'm bad at this_ "but do you want to talk about what happened? I called Latvia because I knew you two were kinda close and he sa--" he froze and stopped as she slapped him.

"ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! ITS NOT ANYONE'S BUISSNESS BUT MY OWN!" her voice was shrill and breaking as she screamed at him "HOW DARE YOU GO BEHIND MY BACK. I'll KILL YOU ARROGANT BASTARD" she rushed at Cuba who had taken a couple steps back, but the bigger man was able to grab both her wrists and turn her away from him. he held her as she struggled shrieking and screaming. after a few moments Matt came running back outside, he had a jersey in his hand and he froze horrified. after what seemed like years to the terrified Canada she started to settle down, the howling turning to a whimper and sobs.

"he.. he .. he said I needed to go. he always hides he always runs but hes always there for me when I need him. he was always.. he told me I needed to go." Natalia slipped out of Cuba's grasp onto the ground.

Matt put his hand on her back and crouched down low next to her. "I umm... I got ice- -Kumo got ice cream all over my clothes and so I need to do some laundry but I have this jersey and its clean and umm.. will that be alright?" his voice wasn't strong, or reassuring, but be broke the silence and she looked up at him.

"I must look like a monster right now. I smile and sob and scream and I'm sitting in Cuba's back yard in a full dress because HE likes them and crying because in a hundred years hes moved on and I can't let him go."

Matt put his arms around her and pulled her close to him, "that's not dumb at all. you just care more than he does, and hes too stupid and broken to see it. its not your fault hes changed like that and you haven't; you have changed and I think that anyone would be lucky nowadays to have someone like you with 'em."

she looked up at him her face far too close to his for him to be comfortable then wrapped her arms around him as well. "you-- you really mean that Matt?

"yes, Natalia look at you, you're a splendid young woman who cares so much for her family shes crying over it." he held her back just a touch so he could look at her face, "you're beautiful Natalia, and fun and sure you care too much, but that's never been a bad thing in my book."

"thank you" she whispered and pulled herself back to his chest.

"it'll be alright. never seems like it. people always say that. but it usually is. its like when you pull your goalie.. no that's not really how it is or its like when you get ice cream on your jersey and people make fun of you till you're out on the ice kinda. or like--" Matt kept on rambling

_how does he do it? she scared me so bad just now, scared him too but look at him hes just there holding her._

"Oh I know what its like its like when you see an old friend and they're not quite how you remember them but then you get to know them again and its like having a new friend. no. that's not right either but you get the idea. things just end up and usually they're just fine." Matt was smiling and she had stopped sobbing and was laughing at his backwards trail of thought.

Sighing Cuba put his hand on her head, "like Matt said, it will be alright, but if you don't get out of that dress and changed quick it will end up smelling like my pool and that damn wet bear." he pulled away fast as she jerked her head up and glared at him.

"it's not alright Cuba" her eyes softened as she turned to Matt, "I'm sorry for crying all over you Matthew. I'll umm I can do a bit of your laundry while I get my dress clean if you'd like." she looked down at the jersey and smiled a little bit sniffling, "thank you for the jersey. I'm going to go get changed quick then do a little laundry."

"Don't worry about it. whenever Arth-- I mean England ignores Al or picks on him or forgets his birthday he always comes to me. I'm just glad to help." he smiled at her and helped her stand up. “so don't worry about crying on me once. I mean Al does it like five times a week that big cry baby."

she smiled at him and went up on her tip toes to kiss his check. she laughed a bit when he went bright red then skipped over to the door and went inside. after a moment Matt turned to Cuba. "what did you say to her?" his voice was low, low like the growl Spain used to bark orders at him in.

"no- nothing" _shit_ "I just told her I knew what had happened and I was wondering if she wanted to talk about it"

"poor thing is trying to give herself a little distance and you just threw it all back in her face. and on top of that you went behind her back to do it!" Matt was standing straight his voice rising fast, "from the sound of it Ivan just tore out her heart and threw her out! you need to give someone a chance to settle down and relax before you bring that shit up. its like when Al broke away from England, no one wanted to talk about it, but with a bit of time they're fine together hell they're great together. what the hell were you thinking bringing that up! that was just this fucking morning!"

_shit I've never seen him so worked up before. about anything. shit_ Cuba just stared at Matt; he had been stepping back with almost every word he realized.

Matt's face softened up, "I'm sorry I just.. it makes me so upset when people stomp all over each other and I just don't like it and.. I'm sorry Cuba I'll go. come on Kuma out of the pool we're gonna be heading home," he looked down at his feet and started to go.

“Stop right there you moron." _he finally stood up for something_ "I'm blunt and heavy handed and she doesn't want anything to do with me right now. I was trying to help, but YOU, you did help. you're staying. that damn bear is staying. I'm going to go get more strawberry ice cream because from the sounds of it you finished it off and you're going to keep her company. you and that soggy bear of yours."

Matt just looked at him blankly then started to smile. it didn't last long though and quickly he had a terrified, embarrassed look on his face.

_oh no now what_ "whats wrong Matt?"

"I didn't give her an under shit! or shorts I was so worried I came running out and oh no.. I " he drug his hands through his hair and onto his face

"this is an easy fix. go grab an undershirt. grab a pair of shorts and get them to her quick, I'm gonna go back out to the store now. tomorrow you can take her out and get her some new things for while she stays. sound good?" _this is a problem I can deal with._

"yea- yeah that's good I gotta hurry" he turned and ran toward the patio door, Kumo on his heels. stepping inside he wiped out again.

_That moron needs to quit wearing socks down here. tracks grass inside and ends up wiping out all the time on the wood floors_ Cuba thought as he laughed to himself. moving toward the gate to his front yard.

 

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if i wrote people wrong, this was my first shot at it. also sorry i have so many non-capital letters and other errors. i normally write in notepad but my wife just got me using a real word processor. also this might be a chapter 1? not certain i will be writing more of this shpeel.


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